The purpose of this study was to determine subjective ocular symptoms occurring in patients infested with Demodex. The number of Demodex mites in the obtained material that correlated with the appearance of ocular symptoms was estimated. The study material were eyelashes collected from 1499 patients. The material were observed under a light microscope. T-test, the logistic regression method, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for the analysis. Demodex mites were detected in 47% patients. The mean ages of infected women and men were 64 and 59 years, respectively. 64% infected patients complained of one or more ophthalmological symptoms. The most commonly reported symptoms included itching (28%), redness of eyelids (21%), and watery eyes (15%). Positive correlation was found between itching, redness, pain, purulence or eyelash loss and the presence of Demodex. The mentioned symptoms increase the probability of Demodex infestation in a statistically significant manner (p<0.005). A correlation between the age and gender and the number of Demodex was revealed by the study. The threshold average number of seven Demodex mites per eight collected eyelashes with which the risk of the occurrence of an ocular symptom increases significantly was defined. In patients with a low number of Demodex mites, symptoms may be absent. The risk of the occurrence of ocular symptom in patients with demodicosis increases with the increase in the average number of Demodex mites.

Post-embryonic development and fully-formed polycephalic larvae of Taenia parva Baer, 1926 were examined by light (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Three developmental stages were recognised: (1) an early stage of exogenous budding at the surface of the central vesicle; (2) a stage of polycephalic cyst development accompanied by segmentation of the growing larval strobile and an obvious decrease in the size of the central vesicle; (3) fully-formed larval strobile and invaginated scoleces. In fully-developed encysted polycephalic larvae, there are usually 14-24 segmented larval strobilae, each terminating with an invaginated scolex; larval strobilae arise from a common central vesicle and remain attached posterior to it during the entire development. The number of segments varies between 109 and 120 per larval strobila. The polycephalic larvae examined closely resemble the strobilocercus type of taeniid larvae. The structure of developing and fully-formed larvae was examined by TEM. The tegument, scolex, subtegumental musculature of the strobilar segments, protonephridial system, calcareous corpuscles and medullary parenchyma of larvae exhibit general similarity with the same structures in adults at both LM and TEM levels. The morphogenesis of the larva of T. parva is compared with that of the polycephalic larvae of other Taenia spp. (T. krepkogorski, T. twitchelli and T. endothoracica) and with other asexually-multiplying cestode larvae (mesocestoidids, hymenolepidids and dilepidids).

The present study describes the ultrastructure of mature vitellocytes of the trypanorhynch cestode Progrillotia pastinacae Dollfus, 1946 (Progrillotiidae), a parasite of the common stingray Dasyatis pastinaca (Linnaeus, 1758) (Dasyatidae). The vitelline cells of this species measure about 24 μm in length and about 20 μm in width. They have small, elongated, slightly lobulated nuclei, about 4–5 μm in length, with large dense elongated nucleoli and numerous irregularly-shaped dense clumps of heterochromatin. The extensive cytoplasm is rich in numerous cell organelles and cell inclusions. While the perinuclear cytoplasm contains numerous long parallel cisternae of GER, ribo-and polyribosomes, several Golgi complexes and mitochondria, the peripheral cytoplasm contains predominantly three types of cell inclusions: a great number of large lipid droplets, several shell globule clusters, and a very small amount of glycogen-like particles. The most characteristic features of vitellocytes in P. pastinacae are having almost no traces of glycogen and the great number of large, highly osmiophobic lipid droplets representing saturated fatty acids. The presence of large amounts of lipids also in two other trypanorhynchs, Grillotia erinaceus (Beneden, 1858) Guiart, 1927 and Dollfusiella spinulifera (Beveridge et Jones, 2000) Beveridge, Neifar et Euzet, 2004, is in strong contrast to the condition in the most evolved cestodes, Cyclophyllidea, that usually show no trace of lipids.

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In the present study we compared the prevalence of Demodex mites in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in one control group involving individuals of similar mean age. From each person we epilated 3-4 lashes from each eyelid and examined them under a microscope to find Demodex mites. In total 147 patients were examined. The prevalence of Demodex mites was 33% in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and 31% in the control group. Our results demonstrated that the prevalence of Demodex mites was similar in RA patients as compared to the control group.